X

19 Hollywood Power Players Recently Accused of Sexual Harassment or Abuse

Harvey Weinstein. Photo courtesy of AV Club.

Summary: After the fall of bullyish Hollywood mogul, Harvey Weinstein, other high-profile figures have been accused of sexual harassment or much more.

In early October, The New York Times published a piece about Miramax founder Harvey Weinstein and his three-decades of sexually harassing women in Hollywood. Before the expose, Weinstein’s alleged lecherous behavior was tolerated and an “open secret” because so many were afraid of him. However, after the publication, numerous women came forward to confirm his predatory behavior and he was subsequently fired from his company, The Weinstein Company. Additionally, police departments in New York, Los Angeles, and London have opened criminal investigations for rape.

Before Weinstein, there were a few high-profile sexual abuse cases in entertainment involving Roman Polanksi, Woody Allen, Bryan Singer, and Bill Cosby; but even those cases did not seemingly change the industry’s culture of protecting powerful men. But perhaps those cases combined with the fall of Harvey Weinstein and the ease of social media to share information opened a floodgate for victims to come forward and out the powerful predators in Hollywood. These accused men, ranging from actors to talent agents, have allegedly victimized males and females for years; and each week, the number of outed alleged harassers continues to grow.

Below is a comprehensive list of Hollywood power players who have so far been accused of sexual harassment in the post-Harvey Weinstein era:

  1. Kevin Spacey: Anthony Rapp, who was an original cast member in the award-winning Broadway show Rent, accused House of Cards star Kevin Spacey of attempting to seduce him when he was 14-years-old and Spacey was 26. The accusation of pedophilia resulted in the cancellation of House of Cards as well as several crew members coming forward to claim that Spacey had sexually harassed them on set. Two additional men also accused Spacey of molestation.
  2. James Toback: The little-known director was apparently infamous in the entertainment industry for preying on actresses. The Los Angeles Times revealed that he had allegedly sexually harassed almost 300 women, including Rachel McAdams, Julianne Moore, and Selma Blair.
  3. Jeremy Piven: Entourage and Wisdom of the Crowd star Jeremy Piven has been accused of groping reality star Ariane Bellamar on at least two occasions. Piven has denied the accusations, and CBS which airs Wisdom of the Crowd said they were looking into Bellamar’s claims. Longmire actress Cassidy Freeman later also accused Piven of predatory behavior.
  4. Brett Ratner: In 2010, actress Olivia Munn told the story of an anonymous Hollywood director who had frightened her by masturbating in front of her while eating shrimp when she was supposed to deliver food to his trailer. The director was later revealed to be Brett Ratner, who claimed that he and Munn had dated. Ratner later admitted that he had made up their relationship, and since then, others have accused him of sexual harassment or rape. On November 1, The Los Angeles Times published an expose about his behavior, and that same day, he filed a libel lawsuit against a woman in Hawaii who claimed that he had raped her years ago.
  5. Ben Affleck: After the Harvey Weinstein scandal, Affleck was quick to condemn his former friend in the news. However, a savvy user on Twitter pointed out that Affleck was himself a groper and pointed to an incident from 2003 involving now actress Hilarie Burton. Burton confirmed that Affleck had groped her, and he issued an apology online. Afterwards, a celebrity stylist accused Affleck of grabbing her butt at an awards show, but Affleck has yet to address that allegation.
  6. Mark Halperin: Mark Halperin, a well-known political journalist with a show on HBO, was recently accused of sexual harassment by multiple women when he was an anchor at ABC News. One woman told CNN that he had tried to kiss her at work, and others shared that he had put his genitals on them while in the office.
  7. Dustin Hoffman: Anna Graham Hunter wrote in The Hollywood Reporter that when she was 17, she interned on the set of Death of a Salesman and that during her time there, Dustin Hoffman sexually harassed her with lewd comments and touching. The film’s director Volker Schlöndorff confirmed on Friday that Hoffman did things on set like slap Hunter’s butt, but the apologist said that the actor was just kidding around.
  8. Andy Dick: The Hollywood Reporter wrote that Andy Dick was fired from his recent film for sexual misconduct, which included unwanted kissing and licking as well as grabbing people’s genitals. When asked for comment by the trade, Dick denied groping but admitted he asked people out and licked them. Others in the industry told Vulture that this was not the first time Dick has been fired for bothering people on set.
  9. Roy Price: Amazon Studios recently terminated its president, Roy Price, after Man in the High Castle executive producer Isa Hackett revealed that he had sexually harassed her. Before the firing, the studio had a negative reputation for not being female-friendly and for courting deals with alleged sexual predators such as Woody Allen and Harvey Weinstein.
  10. David Guillod: Jessica Barth, an actress who starred in Ted, claimed that David Guillod, a talent manager and a producer of Atomic Blonde, had drugged and raped her in 2012. Barth reported the incident to the LAPD at the time, and she claimed that Guillod had threatened to sue her. Guillod’s attorney said that his client was cleared of charges, but he resigned from his company Primary Wave Entertainment after Barth disclosed her story to the press this week.
  11. Bob Weinstein: The Mist showrunner Amanda Segel said that Harvey Weinstein’s brother, Bob Weinstein, had sexually harassed her in 2016 for three months. Bob Weinstein co-owned The Weinstein Company with Harvey, and Bob allegedly knew of Harvey’s indiscretions and did nothing until The New York Times article was published in October. A lawyer for Bob Weinstein denied Segel’s claims.
  12. Erik Horine: Literary agent Erik Horine was terminated in June from ICM for sexual harassment, but he landed at a smaller agency who let him go this week after two months. The new agency, The Shuman Company, said that Horine acted appropriately during his short tenure, but insiders believe that the surfacing of Horine’s reputation cost him his new job.
  13. Tyler Grasham: Tyler Grasham was a talent agent at the Agency of the Performing Arts (APA), and he represented stars such as Finn Wolfhard from Stranger Things. He was accused by multiple people of propositioning young men and teenage boys for sex in exchange for representation. APA fired Grasham, and the LAPD is conducting a sexual assault investigation.
  14. Ryan Ly: Ryan Ly was an agent at Hollywood talent agency CAA for 12 years when he was fired for sexual harassment in September. Five assistants accused him of inappropriate behavior, including groping and lewd comments; and although he was fired before the Weinstein scandal, his behavior was not publicized until recently.
  15. Adam Venit: This week, WME talent agent Adam Venit, who represents fellow accused harasser Bret Ratner, was suspended from the agency after actor Terry Crews stated on social media that a Hollywood bigwig had grabbed his genitals at a party.
  16. Jon Grissom: For years, troubled actor Corey Feldman warned the world that there were pedophiles in Hollywood that preyed on young male actors, and this week, he revealed on Dr. Oz that one of his abusers was actor Jon Grissom. Feldman said that Grissom had abused him as a teenager on the set of License to Drive, and it was later discovered that Grissom had a criminal record of sexually abusing children.
  17. Marty Weiss: This week, Feldman also told Megyn Kelly that child talent manager Marty Weiss had also abused him when he was younger. In 2011, Weiss was convicted as a child sex offender from an unrelated case.
  18. Chris Savino: 46-year-old Chris Savino was accused by almost 12 women at Nickelodeon of sexual harassment and retaliation. The animator and creator of Loud House wrote on Facebook that he was sorry for his actions after the network fired him.

Why do you think Hollywood has so many cases of sexual harassment? Let us know in the comments below.

Teresa Lo: